Change
by mcgonagalls-biscuits
Summary: It's funny how one single moment can change everything. Oneshot. COMPLETE


Usual Disclaimer: Unfortunately this world and its wonderful inhabitants do not belong to me, they belong to J. K. Rowling, I'm just borrowing them. I am making no money from this it is purely for the enjoyment of those few who choose to read it. Thanks J. K. for lending me your ready made world of magic.

A/N: I was having an odd moment when I decided to write this little one-shot as you'll probably be able to tell. I wrote it quite a while ago and only just decided to post it. Hope it's not too deep and meaningful. All reviews will be entirely welcome. Thank you in advance for reading this story.

MB

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Change

Its funny how one single moment can change everything.

Harry thought as he watched Voldemort crumble and fell weakly back into strong supporting arms. The world seemed to swim around him in a surreal haze.

"It's okay, It's all over now." The voice was not one of a person he would ever have expected to be right there supporting him in the end. It was not either of his best friends Ron and Hermione. It was not his trusted former professor and confidant Remus Lupin. It was not any of the members of his practically adoptive family the Weasley's. It was not the manipulative, controlling, but also protective and endearing headmaster that had always been there throughout Harry's school life. It was not any of his trusted teachers or classmates or housemates or even one of the unknown freedom fighters consisting of villagers fighting for their world and trained Aurors.

It was the person he least expected to even support their side. It was the person he had accused of awful things in the past. It was the person he had turned his hatred on several times. It was the person who tormented him relentlessly in both dreams and waking thoughts. It was the person he had come to admire. It was the blonde Slytherin he had first met trying on robes in Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley the day he had discovered his world.

Whatever happened that day in the robe shop seemed to have formed a bond between them. A relationship that turned sour because of the prejudiced views of those around them. Their upbringings and surrounding circumstances had turned their feelings into something they needn't have been.

The hatred and spite had lasted through the better part of their school life because it was expected of them but eventually, in maturity, they realised they were very alike although neither would admit it and this became the cause for many of their arguments in later years. Contact between them was minimal but only because they were at a loss for what to say to each other. If there were others around it was expected of them to have a physical or most often verbal battle.

Otherwise they simply acknowledged each other, muttering each others second names.

The famous enmity between them had faded and only existed as a facade to prevent awkward explanations to those around them.

In reality there was no real enmity between Harry Potter Gryffindor golden boy and saviour of the wizarding world and Draco Malfoy Slytherin Ice Prince and son of a Deatheater. In fact, they realised, they were very similar. Both had the ideals expected of them and strove constantly towards them, both craved a different life. Both hid behind emotionless facades in order to protect those around them. And both had grown to admire one another.

"It's over." Harry echoed the words of the blonde who supported him on his weak knees. He turned to look into silver eyes that conveyed a whirlpool of emotions. Harry heard the sounds of the remaining Deatheaters either falling or apparating. Their master had fallen, or whatever had kept him alive was finally destroyed once and for all. He barely registered the uproar of noise and celebration as the freedom fighters found an extra burst of energy to celebrate the most momentous occasion they had seen since Voldemort's rise to power all those years ago. He barely registered the world whirring by outside the mix of emotions in the silver orbs he could not look away from.

Exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally, Harry's whole body shook in the Slytherins arms and he could not protest as he was torn away by a group of familiar faces. He looked back at the blonde Slytherin as he was carried away. Only when the blonde was out of sight did he allow his eyes to close and his body to slip into a recuperative slumber.

Days later, when he woke, he surveyed the faces around them all worn and scarred, all telling tales of the battle, all aged beyond their years. Eyes full of happiness and relief stared down at him but none were the unimaginable shade of silver he had last seen.

"You had us worried for a while mate." Ron smiled standing with the support of crutches. Harry wanted to cry as he surveyed the smiles he had not seen since long before the battle but he couldn't help but notice there were a few smiling faces missing.

"Where's Dumbledore?" He asked, his voice barely a whisper. The expressions on the faces of his friends and family told him everything. "Who else?"

"Rest now Harry we can talk about it all later." Hermione tried to guide him off of the subject of the casualties of the war.

"Who else?" Harry demanded to know. "Where's Remus?" He suddenly realised that the face of his former professor was missing.

"I'm sorry Harry."

They began filling Harry in on as much of the after war goings on as they could. Hardly any family was without it's casualties but the number of deaths amongst people Harry had known were thankfully few but heartbreaking nonetheless. Glad that Hogwarts, encapsulating all of its younger students, had been a safe haven at least. Only the seventh years had been allowed to fight, the rest were confined to the safe walls of the only fort that had never been breached. Harry was glad he hadn't been awake to hear the lists of names of family members who had died for the cause. Most students had been sent home to grieve, attend funerals and cherish what family they had left.

Wars always take a toll on the world in which they rage and Harry blamed himself for this one.

"Don't you dare blame yourself! We're lucky! You save the Wizarding world Harry! There were fewer deaths in this war than we could have hoped for and you are to thank for that! So don't you dare. The world has to move on and so do you. You can live in peace now along with the rest of our world. You can do what you want and live without fear or pressure. This isn't just the end of the war but the beginning of a new life!" Harry listened to the tirade and thought for the millionth time in his life that Hermione made far too much sense to be normal and he wouldn't have had it any other way. Harry smiled.

"You're right. Move on with the rest of the world. Now when can I leave this bloody hospital wing you know it drives me crazy?"

Glad to see his friends smiling again at his attempt at humour Harry tried to sit up. It made him feel incredibly dizzy but the feeling wore off eventually and he opened his eyes again.

"A week at least." Madam Pomfrey answered him, pushing through the crowd of familiar faces to check him over. "And there are far too many in here you'll all have to leave. Mr Potter will need to sleep off some of the recovery potions I'm giving him. You can all come back - one at a time - tomorrow." Grumbling and groaning issued from Harry's onlookers and he smiled as they left. He needed to think by himself for a moment but had very little time to do so as the sleeping draught he had been give began to take effect.

It's funny how one single moment can change everything. He thought as he drifted into the blissful land of nod.

"I told you Mr Potter is asleep and is not fit for visitors at the moment!"

"And I told you I didn't care!"

"Well you'll just have to care. I want you to leave right now."

"I'm not going anywhere until I've seen him. I don't care if he's asleep."

Two exasperated voices filtered into Harry's head as he woke.

"Look, I won't wake him I promise. I just want to see that he's ok." Harry recognised the classy tone of voice as that belonging to the person he had instantly looked for the moment he had woken earlier.

"Let him in." Harry called to the Madam Pomfrey as she and Draco stood behind the curtained partitions.

"Alright fine but twenty minutes tops!" Madam Pomfrey sighed and could be heard bustling away. There followed a short silence before the familiar blonde made his way into Harry's cubicle.

Their eyes locked and they regarded each other in awkward silence. Harry was disappointed to see that there was no longer a swirl of emotions in the silver orbs he had longed to see again but instead he found himself looking into the steely grey eyes of a Malfoy, the barriers had been erected once more.

"Sorry about your father..." Harry began.

"Don't be." He was cut off. "He got what he deserved." There was a flicker of emotion but it was barely there before it was gone again. Harry sighed and broke eye contact. He did not want to look into the emotionless pools of steel.

"I don't know what to say to you Malfoy." Harry told him honestly. There were a million and one things he wanted to tell the blonde Slytherin but none he wanted to say while the almost painful emotional barrier stood between them. "I don't know what you want to hear."

Draco hesitated but took a few steps forward and sat in the chair at the head of Harry's bed. He sighed and put his head in his hands.

Harry's eyes met his once more and once again he saw the mixed emotion and confusion swirling in his emerald green eyes. If only he found it easier to let his barriers drop. He was pretty sure they would melt if Harry only reached out and touched him. The day of the battle he had almost melted at the touch when he held Harry in his arms. But what chance was there that Harry would ever want to touch him in the way that he wanted.

"Why are you here Malfoy?" Harry questioned.

"I don't know." Draco answered truthfully. Just what was he hoping for? He asked himself.

More awkward silence followed before Harry could take it no longer.

"Let it go. Whatever it is that is keeping those barriers in place let it go and tell me why you're really here."

With all his heart Draco wanted to pour out his soul to Harry but the fear of rejection kept the barriers in place. He clasped his hands and laid them on Harry's bed.

"What are you scared of?" Harry asked. He wanted Draco to open up to him he wanted to know if he could ever feel the same way as Harry did.

Harry took a risk and placed his hand on top of Draco's clasped fingers.

It surprised him when Draco's head snapped up and with seemingly newfound confidence his barriers began to melt and he began to talk.

"You know," He laughed "before the war I would go to the library or outside into the grounds if I knew you were going to be there. I wanted to know everything about you. I wanted to know everything there was to know about Harry Potter with the brave heart of a Gryffindor and not Harry Potter my archenemy through condition." He laughed again, not making eye contact with Harry but instead gazing at where Harry's hand still rested on his. He kept speaking as if afraid that if he'd stop Harry would pull away and leave his life forever. "When we stopped fighting so much I started to wonder how things gotten the way they were. I would watch you in class, with your friends or your housemates and envy their relationships with you. It's hard to make friends in Slytherin dormitories not knowing who can be trusted and who can't." A wry smile crossed his lips as he continued. "And I certainly wasn't to be trusted, Son of a Deatheater and Lucius Malfoy no less, Voldemort's right hand man. I even used to wish I had been sorted into Gryffindor or you into Slytherin I just knew we could have been friends. I wanted to be your friend ever since I met you in Madam Malkin's do you remember?" He didn't wait for an answer but just kept talking. "Then of course 'father' told me who you were and that I was to hate you and make your life hell. It was expected of me - I'm a Malfoy you see. I still tried though, on the train, I tried to be your friend but you chose Weasley instead. I never told father that though, he would have given himself a hernia thinking about it, I'm pretty sure he did when I told him I would not bow to Voldemort. I was disrespecting the Malfoy family name you see. He told me he would see to it that I had nothing but the clothes on my back but I didn't care. I had waited my whole life to stand up to him and I had finally done it. I didn't want the family riches or the name. I wanted to live my own life. Of course it all backfired on him, the war began before he could change any of the family deeds and so now that he's dead it is all in my name. I don't know what to do with it all but I don't care either it can sit and rot, there are other far more important things on my mind..." Harry eventually silenced what had descended into rambling by putting a finger to his lips, scared that if he talked any longer he would pass out from lack of oxygen.

"Shh." He whispered and Draco brought his swirling silver eyes back into line with the bright emerald green ones watching him intently. "You think it was any different for me? Conditioned to hate all Slytherins despite wanting to believe the better of some of them. I always thought we were alike. Of course I remember when we met. You were the first magical child I had ever come into contact with and it scared and excited me. You mentioned all these strange and wonderful things and I was so intimidated. I didn't know any better than what I'd been told so I rejected you on the train. I was nearly sorted into Slytherin you know." Harry paused as Draco raised an eyebrow. "Strange I know, but I suppose it was my being a parselmouth or something. I begged to be put anywhere but Slytherin and became a Gryffindor. I tried the hat on again one day in Dumbledore's office and I asked it again - it said it still stood by its opinion that I could have been great in Slytherin. I suppose that meant I could have been the next little Voldie." He gave a short derisive laugh. "We're kind of getting off topic here. I think I know what you came here to say... and I want to hear you say it." Harry's last hesitant words reassured Draco somewhat and gave him confidence but he struggled to find the words to express himself.

Eventually he said: "I've wanted you by my side since the day I met you and I don't know what happened to make us the way we were but despite everything I was always on your side. I wanted you to be my friend and sometimes more..."

"I've waited so long to hear you say that." Harry breathed. "I was too scared to say it myself. I never thought... I wanted you for so long and..." Harry took a deep breath before continuing. "I've longed for you're lips on mine since... well since my hormones gained control of me." It came out in a long string of relieving words as he flushed beetroot and it was his turn to clasp his hands in his lap and stare at them.

"Right! You've had more than enough time." Madam Pomfrey bustled back into sight, completely unaware of her highly inappropriate timing. The two boys however ignored her completely as Draco cupped Harry's face in his hand and brought their lips softly together for a only a moment then left before Harry had even fully opened his eyes again.

"Merlin." Madam Pomfrey was muttering, her face scarlet as she gave Harry yet another potion that sent him into a blissfully peaceful slumber.

It's funny how one single moment can change everything. Harry thought happily as he drifted off.

The next few days in the hospital wing saw each of his friends visiting and celebrating the end of the war and the beginning of a new life. One face that did not return however, was the face he found himself most wanting to see. He pushed it out of his mind though and concentrated on the smiling faces of his friends for the time being.

"Merlin!" Harry exclaimed as he looked into a mirror for the first time in days. He hadn't even been looking in mirror after washing and he finally seen that his face was just as scarred as his body. His lightning bolt scar which so distinguished him had been burst open during his battle and was raised and hideously purple still, over a week later. There was faded bruising on his cheek and around his left eye and a long straggling scar ran from midway down his neck to his shoulder on his right side. Other than bruising and healing lacerations over his body there was nothing that wouldn't fade with time. His hair was, if possible even messier than usual as he tried to tame it with a comb. "Merlin and he still kissed me." Harry murmured to himself, careful not to let Hermione hear him.

After a week of consciously staying in the hospital wing he was finally allowed to return to the Gryffindor dorms. He was relieved to see that most of the students who had been home to grieve for loved ones had returned and though their faces were often solemn and sad Harry was glad to see that they themselves were safe. Had they not been safe Harry would not have been able to smile for his efforts would have been for nought. These were the people he had truly fought for. These people who had supported him for what seemed like always. He had fought for the whole of their world of course but it was these people he wanted to fight for, to support them as they supported him. He was greeted with great celebration but was glad to finally retire to his own bed. He could finally be at peace, without worry of seeing what evilness Voldemort was up to.

"Hedwig!" Harry greeted his snowy owl with a grin the next morning when the post arrived at breakfast. "How are you girl? I haven't seen you in so long." Harry stroked her feathers and it was only when she hooted softly and stuck her leg out that he noticed she carried a note.

'Harry, After time to think, to dream and to want you, I hope you will respond and forgive me for the delay in returning to you. I have sold the family assets and settled everything in my life ready to start anew. Please meet me tonight by the lake after dark if you would still have me by your side. Always yours. Draco.'

Harry didn't know if he could wait till nightfall as he hid the letter away from his friends and scanned the Great Hall for signs of the platinum blonde hair he wished to touch so very much but there was no sign of it anywhere. He did happen to notice however with a twist of pity the reduced numbers at the Slytherin house table. They may have deserved what they got but then again they may not. Things could have changed all too quickly in a single moment for them but Harry would never know, nor did he wish to.

'Finally.' Harry thought as he made his excuses with Ron and Hermione and pretended to go to bed. In reality he only pulled the hangings around his bed closed and headed back out of Gryffindor tower under his invisibility cloak. For once he was glad of the dark clouds thickening the sky as they had meant darkness had fallen that little earlier than usual and brought closer the moment he had been waiting all day for.

Draco was not waiting for him when he arrived and so he sat on the grass facing out over the calm lake which, in the lack of daylight, seemed as black as tar. He felt peaceful. He thought about how in his life so far he had never felt to content. He appreciated his life so much more after all he had been through and now he was free to live as he pleased. There were no more pressures on him. There were no thoughts of tasks ahead lingering at the back of his mind. There was no lingering traces of Voldemort behind his scar. And there was no reason left to stop him having a relationship with Draco.

He had thought plenty about Draco over the last week in the hospital wing. He thought about all that was behind those dazzling silver eyes and how he wanted to know everything there was to know about the blonde beauty. He felt something between them. Something more than what he had felt for Cho or Ginny or Dean or James (the muggle he had met one summer). He was by no means experienced - none of his relationships, if you could call them that, had lasted much more than five minutes. But Draco just seemed... different.

"Hi Harry." Harry stood as he heard the familiar voice behind him. He turned to face the person he had longed to see.

One single moment can change everything. And Harry hoped this moment would change his life in the best way possible.

"Hi." He replied suddenly feeling nervous, his stomach fluttering strangely.

"I just wondered... I wondered if you still meant what you said? About wanting me by your side?"

"Of course I do. I couldn't wait to see you again..." He was cut off as Draco's closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to Harry's. Harry closed his eyes and felt like he was spinning. He kissed back and was left breathless when they pulled apart.

"The first day of the rest of our lives." Harry murmured, looking deep into Draco's shining silver eyes.

"And I want to spend it with you." Draco whispered.

One moment can change everything Harry thought as he packed his school trunk for the last time. His school days were over, the battle was won and his life was turning out perfect.

"I love you."

"I Love you too."

The words were whispered as they lay in each others arms that night.

Another moment that would change life.

Love was all they needed. It was what they had searched for all their lives and they had found it.

As he stood at the alter, kissing the love of his life with a promise they would be together always, Harry thought about happiest moments of his life, this one topping the list.

He was Harry Potter-Malfoy now, the Boy Who Lived was long gone, replaced by the Boy Who Lived to be Himself in a world where that was possible.

It's funny how one single moment can change everything and yet life is full of those little moments. That was what made life what it was and, for that, Harry was glad. Things could change in a single moment but that was part and parcel of being who he was. Just Harry.

_finis_


End file.
